Analysis: The War In Afghanistan's Haunted NATO

Afghanistan is a country with extreme climate, in the summer, temperatures rises at 50º c and there are also huge dust storms, this wasn’t an easy war to fight. The United States, Canada,

1. In President Obama’s speech at West Point, he announced that 30,000 additional troops would be sent to Afghanistan. He made this decision because he said it was vital to the United States’ national interest. The vital national interest at risk in President Obama’s address is the security and safety of the American people as well as the “security of our allies and the common security of the world.” By involving the military and increasing the troop strength, President Obama can achieve the objectives of his strategy. His objectives are to keep the Taliban from becoming powerful, prevent them from government rule, improve Afghanistan security forces and government so they can manage their own country and prevent Al Qaeda from

Mr. Chandrasekaran's thesis is that the Afghans could have prospered in their own terms and The United States could have achieved its objectives if the United States had taken a long view from the beginning of its involvement in Afghanistan. The U.S. approach was almost entirely short-term in its strategy and tactics. Lack of coordination between the U.S. military and civil departments / agencies rendered the strategy almost ineffective.

The Special Inspector-General for Afghanistan Reconstruction’s (SIGAR) quarterly report for January is a bleak read. At close to 30%, not only do the Taliban hold more Afghan territory than any time after the 2001 invasion, but "The insurgency is spreading (Afghan forces) thin, threatening rural districts in one area while carrying out ambitious attacks in more populated centers." The Taliban trifecta of high-stakes attacks in late 2015 adds weight to SIGAR’s assessment. Moreover, even before militants briefly overran Kunduz, Kandahar airport and besieged Sangin district, UN figures revealed a 19% increase in “security incidents” between August and October.

The Afghanistan War has brought many other historic events, including the defeat of the Taliban, and the killing of Osama bin Laden. The Afghanistan War has altered the lives of millions, including those in Afghanistan. The war brought a new government and rid the country of the corrupted government. However great these victories were, there were various drawbacks as a result of the war. The U.S. lost millions of lives and millions of dollars. The U.S. has been driven into debt but these aren’t the only consequences faced by the U.S. The United States has immensely been affected both socially and economically. The United States has suffered from the political consequences the Afghanistan War has brought.

The United States had to attempt to cooperate with the Afghan government in some way in order to do what they needed to do to win the war, but nothing can possibly be accomplished if the Afghan government is too corrupt to be of any help possible. To start, the watchdog agency found that “The Afghan attorney general[, whose name is not known,] refused to enforce or continue investigating an enormous corruption scandal at the country’s biggest bank” (Bearak 2). This is technically proof that the practices of the Afghan government are pretty much corrupt because not even the attorney general is not willing to further examine a case that is centered around corruption occurring in their own country. Moving on, more evidence of corruption can be seen in the Afghan police forces. According to frontline Coalition troops, “local police in Afghanistan have earned a justified reputation […] as unreliable, underpaid, corrupt, incompetent, lazy, sometimes treacherous, sometimes brave, dope-smoking pederasts” (Foreman 34). This is essentially why Afghanistan must use their military instead of their police forces. The police forces are too unreliable and corrupt to protect their own country. This is due to the corrupt government not paying them enough money, and a corrupt government is one that is a non-cooperative one. Finally, the 2012 SIGAR report shows even more evidence of corruption in the Afghan government. The report showed “that the Taliban remain resilient, that widespread corruption continues to weaken the central Afghan government and that Pakistan persists in providing critical support to the insurgency” (Bumiller 1). Basically, the Afghan government is so corrupt that nothing can be done, neither by themselves nor by the

For over 2 centuries, Afghanistan has known virtually no time without war. Beginning around 326 B.C. with the conquests of Alexander the Great, to the Persians, British, Russians and most recently, America and our NATO allies, Afghanistan has been cultivated into the country that it is today through a trial by fire. Regardless of this relentless onslaught of foreign military power, the Afghan people have tirelessly defended their homeland with no outside power ever being able to subdue them completely. Following the withdrawal of the Soviet Union in 1989, the country fell into civil war, torn even further apart by fiercely dedicated tribal warlords. This power vacuum led to the rise of a group called the Taliban. Led by a one eyed man

September 11, 2001 was a devastating day for the United States (US) and countries that had passengers on the airliners that were involved in the terrorist attack. This triggered the US military to be deployed to Afghanistan to fight the Global War on Terror in an effort to eradicate terrorist organizations, such as the Taliban, Al-Qaeda (AQ), and the Haqqani Network (HQN). Since 2001, there has been success of driving the Taliban from power and the death of Osama Bin Laden; however, the US military has lost over two thousand US Soldiers (Buchanan, 2014). Despite the success the US helped provide, the result is that it started to become a concern on how the elite Afghan Soldiers are heavily reliant on the American presence within the country (Mazzetti, 2015). US forces have the collection and airlift capabilities to suppress terrorist organizations within Afghanistan, whereas the Afghan military lacks sufficient training and equipment to possess these capabilities.

War brings out the brutality in men and leads to the death of soldiers and innocent bystanders. War is expensive and has historically led to the failure of stable economies. However, I do believe that the United States is justified in going to war in Afghanistan. The Taliban’s terrorist acts against us have completely stripped Americans of a sense of security that, in my opinion, they, as human beings, are entitled to. Tens of thousands lost relatives and loved ones in the bombings of September 11th. Many commuters now feel unsafe using planes as a mode of transportation. Business executives in large cities now think twice before going to entering their offices in the top of skyscrapers. So although I do not agree with a country murdering its enemies, I think that America has no other choice at this point.

The United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 following the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center. The goal was to bring down the terrorist organization responsible for the attacks, Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda has been defeated, however, some believe that continued American presence in Afghanistan is important because the country now serves as a base to fight terrorism. Others believe that the United States' continued presence is unjustified and that the cost of the war has been too steep make continued presence in the country worthwhile.

The Afghanistan War became the longest war in United States history. The length of the war was a concept that is believed to originate from the United States. The United States knew that the war would be long fought and long delayed. Even though the United States was after the leader of the terrorist organization, we simply could not just “Cut the head of the snake.” The reason for this is because there is a long list of Islamic extremist to step up and take the place of a dead leader. The strategy of a long war for the United States was hoping that over time the terrorist organizations would subside or possibly disappear. Although this is a very costly strategy, we were doing what we believed had to be done.

The war between Afghanistan and the United States has been one that has lasted longer than any war; the civil war combined with both World War I and World War II do not match the duration the United States currently faces with Afghanistan. With both countries engaging little to no military conflict, the U.S. continues to be on Afghanistan’s territory, securing the country from the rise of militias potentially threatening our counterpart’s sovereignty. Many people have been arguing whether the US should withdraw from Afghanistan and when. Currently, as the U.S. plans to withdraw from the Afghan nation, the issue is not one that pertains to the U.S. and Afghanistan, for they are not the only two involved. American forces had planned to leave the opponent’s nation but fear the security along with the sovereignty of Afghanistan continues to be one that is porous. The initiation of the war was the 9/11 attack and has been lasting for 13 years. However, many people complain about the extreme high cost of the war The United States should withdraw completely from Afghanistan because of the high cost of the war, popular opinion’s support, and very few al-Qaeda members are left.

(1) After the end of World War II, all involved countries, with no exception of being victorious or defeated, have started seeking of the prevention of a new disaster by reconstructing and maintaining the security and peace primarily in Europe. All huge and disastrous events (such as World Wars) which affected whole world were originated from the uncomfortable conditions and conflicts in the continent. Thus the main task was to settle a

NATO starts the year 2000 with the issue of concern. The European Allies' defense capability, stabilization efforts in the Balkans, and relations with Russia are at the top of a highly charged agenda.

The unforeseen costly, bloody and lengthy war of a decade has exhausted American taxpayers and the increased casualties of the coalition forces and Afghan civilians reduced the popularity and support for this war. During NATO Lisbon Summit in 2010, the Afghan government and NATO agreed to transfer security responsibilities to the ANSDF by the end of 2014 . In the summit. Moreover, the security transition completed and the ISAF mission ended in December 2014, but not the war and the US commitment. There is not an exact figure of the costs of the war in Afghanistan, but the 14 years of the US engagement costs estimated in the hundreds of billions of US dollars.